


First Glances and Lasting Moments

by IvyCpher



Category: Brave (2012), Frozen (Disney Movies)
Genre: Boats and Ships, Bows & Arrows, Dreams, Elsa & Kristoff Friendship (Disney), Eventual Romance, F/F, F/M, Festivals, First Kiss, Flirting, Fluff, Horseback Riding, Just girls being gays, Lesbian Elsa (Disney), Lesbian Merida (Disney), Magic, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pining, Protective Siblings, Sharing a Bed, Snow, Swearing, THERE WAS ONLY ONE BED, Walks In The Woods
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-27
Updated: 2020-03-10
Packaged: 2021-02-26 04:28:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 17,458
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21587647
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IvyCpher/pseuds/IvyCpher
Summary: Elsa travels to the Kingdom of DunBroch on what she thinks is a diplomatic journey to strengthen the connection between Arendelle and DunBroch. But in turn, this whole thing was planned by Anna and Queen Elinor for Elsa and Merida to become friends (seeing as they have none). Their plan works out better than expected, however.
Relationships: Anna & Olaf (Disney), Anna/Kristoff (Disney), Elsa & Kristoff (Disney), Elsa/Merida (Disney)
Comments: 45
Kudos: 154





	1. Chapter 1

Elsa sighed as she fidgeted nervously with a clasp on her cape as she stared at herself in her vanity mirror. She was leaving Arendelle for the first time in her life, but that wasn't what she was anxious about; and although she was anxious about ships and the sea, and the fact that she would shortly have to board a ship and sail to the close Kingdom of DunBroch scared her- it wasn't where all of her worries laid either. Nor was it the fact that she would be partaking in her first diplomatic mission as queen that worried her. No, what worried Elsa the most was the fact that she would be alone and without her sister Anna for the whole of her journey.

Elsa, despite her separating herself from her sister for the most of their childhood years with shut doors never thought her and her sister ever really separated. Yes they weren't together in presence during those years, but they were together in space. Elsa could always feel her sister around her, hear her running around the halls, and much more. And ever since their- reunion of shorts, putting an end to all secrecy between them, they were closer than they had ever been.

Just the thought of being in a country so far away from her sister scared Elsa. And when she thought about how Anna would be alone, she could only imagine the worst things happening. Who would protect her if things went astray or some new enemy came out of the woodwork, knowing that with Elsa gone that Arendelle's main military protection of prevalent ice and snow would be gone?

There was a sudden knock at her door that caused Elsa to jump, she knocked over a glass bottle of perfume and ended up frosting the whole bottle with a thin layer of ice in her surprise. "Yes?" She said through the door while she hastily straightened the bottle back up.

"Queen Elsa!" Spoke a feminine voice through the other side of the door. "It's nearly time for your departure! Your ship should be leaving soon!"

"Oh- oh!" Elsa spun around and looked at her room. Though her main luggage was already safely upon the boat, she was still mid-way through packing her traveling bag. "Just a minute and I'll be right out!" She spoke to the door and rushed over to her bed where a small black bag was sitting open and half filled. On the front of the bag there was needled the Arendelle coat of arms in shining silver thread. Inside the bag already there was a golden pocket watch that her father had lent her before he and her mother went on a trip that they never returned from, her fingers brushed it as she hastily stuffed in a leather bound book that Kristoff had loaned her and she was startlingly reminded of one of the last things her father had said to her before she last saw him; "Here, keep this. And use it to count the seconds until we return," he had said.

Quickly retracting her hand from the bag, Elsa pushed the thought out of her mind that she might meet the same fate as her parents, dying at sea and leaving Anna alone-. She shook her head and bit the inside of her cheek, "Elsa," She told herself, "You're going to be fine." She mumbled, grabbing up the bag and looking around her room for anymore last minute items she should pack. She finally decided on the glass bottle of perfume that she had minutes earlier set chill to and shoved it into the bag. Then she left her bedroom, giving it one last sweeping look before entering the hallway.

Instead of finding the servant that had reminded her of her ship's departure like she had expected, however, Elsa had walked straight into Anna. Both of them nearly toppled over, the only thing that kept them both from falling was that Anna managed to catch Elsa in her arms at a rather odd angle.

"Uh- hi!" Anna said, smiling, still holding Elsa. "I was just-" But before she could say anymore, she burst into laughter at the odd position they were in. The very sound of Anna's laughter made Elsa laugh too, she snorted as she laughed and covered her mouth with her hand to hide it.

As their laughter died down, the sisters detangled themselves from each other and stood up straight. They had both finally caught their breath when they met each other's eyes and started laughing again.

"Okay, okay, okay!" Anna said finally, taking a deep breath, a wide grin on her lips. "Are you ready to go?" She asked without a trace of laughter now. She took hold of Elsa's arm and squeezed it gently. "Wouldn't want to be late." Together they started to walk down the hall to the main staircase which would lead them to the front foyer.

With a gentle roll of her eyes as they walked, Elsa readjusted her grip on the bag in her hand. "No, I suppose not." She sighed softly through her nose and looked down at their feet as she walked. Their steps were perfectly in sync.

"You okay?" Asked Anna softly, she eyed Elsa with concern as they made their way down the steps.

"Yes," Elsa lied. Anna gave her a look that plainly let her know that she saw right through the lie. "No," she admitted. "I'm nervous, we've never really been this separated- And.." Her eyes traveled to the ground again. "I'm not that big on boats."

Anna didn't need any further explanation, she nodded knowingly and squeezed Elsa's arm again. "Kristoff already talked to the captain of the ship," She said quietly as they reached the bottom step. The doors of the front foyer, which were usually open in the warm months of summer were now closed and had been since the start of September. "And they said that the weather looks perfect for sailing. So no unexpected bumps in the road, or dark cloud in the sky, or too wavy wave in the sea!"

A small smile filtered onto Elsa's lips, "That is comforting. But do you think you'll be alright here by yourself?" She asked, grabbing the handle of the door and pulling the heavy thing open.

"What? I won't be alone!" Anna waved her hand haphazardly around, "I'll have Kristoff and Olaf and Sven and literally the whole kingdom!" She gestured around to a few of their subjects and servants who were milling about, doing this and that and whatever else.

"Are you sure?" Elsa asked quicker than she wanted to. "You could… Always come with me you know." She smiled hopefully, inclining her head forward towards her ship, though she was unable to see it from where they were at, she knew it was at the docks waiting for her. "This is a very sociable thing, meeting another royal family. I don't even know the first thing about St. Andrew's Day. And to be honest, you'd be much better at this than I. You've always been more of a people person while I'm more…"

"Chilly in temperament?" Anna joked. "Elsa, you're a perfectly good people person! People love you!" She said loudly as they walked down a stone path through the center of the town, past many little stores and carts selling goods and small decorations. "You're just shy is all," she said, patting her sister's arm. "But you're great with people, much better I am. Sure I'm a good talker, but I end up saying too much and embarrassing myself and-"

"Saying yes to a marriage proposal to a man you knew less than eight hours?" Elsa smirked, raising a brow.

"Ugh, yes! Don't remind me!" Anna groaned then smiled, "I'd love to go with you, Elsa, but Queen Elinor asked for you, her fellow queen! You know  _ waay  _ more about our trade deals with them and junk than I do anyways, and isn't that why she invited you to visit? To 'strengthen the bonds' between our two kingdoms?"

Elsa wanted to say something to counter Anna but couldn't think of anything because her sister was right. Queen Elinor had invited  _ her,  _ Elsa to the Kingdom of DunBroch for two weeks to 'strengthen the bonds' (exactly as Anna had quoted) between their two kingdoms, that were for many years, great trade partners. Elsa had been invited to stay for the supposedly fun and exciting event of Saint Andrew's Day, Scotland's national holiday. "Yes," She said tentatively, "You're right. I'm just- nervous."

"Well I know it might feel a little weird being around a bunch of new people, especially another queen since you've never met another one before, but there is Princess Merida."

"What about her?" Asked Elsa as they arrived to the docks. She waved to Olaf, Kristoff, and Sven, who were all waiting for them near the ship.

Anna smiled gently, waving to the others as well and letting go of Elsa's arm. "Well, she's about our age, maybe you could befriend her!"

"Ooh befriend who?" Olaf suddenly waddled up to them. "I like befriending people, it makes me feel happy inside! Like there's a little sun in me! Only that it doesn't melt me."

"Merida, the princess of the kingdom that Elsa is visiting." Said Anna quickly. Kristoff came up behind Olaf with Sven and she grabbed his hand.

"That's a great idea!" Olaf gasped. He smiled up at Elsa, "Then you could have more friends, Elsa!"

Elsa just barely managed to bite back a groan, "I guess…" She said wearily, eyeing the ship where the captain was waving to her. "But I do suppose it's time for me to go," She said, not really wanting to leave but to just end the conversation about making new friends. She bent down and gave Olaf a hug. The little snowman giggled in her arms and hugged her back. When Elsa pulled away from the hug, there was fine, powdery snow coating the bosom of her chest. She brushed it off with a tiny smile.

Before Elsa could even look at her sister, Anna had flung her arms around her neck and squeezed her tightly. "You're going to enjoy yourself, I just know it. You just got to get those worries out of your head," Anna whispered in her ear as she pulled away.

Elsa held on to Anna's hands for a moment before they completely separated and kissed her sister's cheek, "You won't make any crazy royal decrees while I'm away?" She asked half-jokingly.

"Oh you can count on it!" Anna said with such a confident smile that it made Elsa giggle. "I'll make a national hot chocolate day where everyone gets the day off!"

"Oh I  _ love  _ hot chocolate!" Olaf said below them.

"Olaf-" Kristoff started questioningly, "You can't drink hot chocolate."

Realization came over Olaf, his eyes widened. "Oh yeah," He shrugged. "Well it smells nice anyways!"

Both Anna and Elsa laughed softly at this.

Then Elsa turned to Kristoff who held out his arms rather awkwardly. Despite the fact that he was dating her sister, he and Elsa never really got over the awkwardness that was showing affection towards one another. Elsa hugged him, smilingly awkwardly, she patted his back then pulled away.

"Don't worry," Kristoff mumbled so that Anna couldn't hear them, "I'll make sure she doesn't do anything crazy." They both looked up at Anna, who was talking to Olaf about something, with loving smiles.

"You better," Elsa nodded, "If any harm befalls her while I'm gone, I'll exile you."

Kristoff started to laugh but when Elsa didn't join in he abruptly stopped, "Oh you're serious- I'll take good care of her, you can trust me."

"I know I can," Said Elsa.

There was a shout from the ship behind them, it was the boat's captain leaning over the railing. "Queen Elsa!" They spoke, "It's past our departure time I'm afraid!"

Everyone stepped forward to give Elsa one more tight hug. Elsa thought of how much she loved them all and how she still wasn't all prepared to leave when they separated however. "See you in two weeks," She said, waving as she turned around to board the ship.

"Goodbye, Elsa!" "Have a safe trip!" "Have fun!" They all shouted at her, waving.

Elsa waved madly back to them, and gave her okay to the Captain to put the ship to sail. "Bye! I'll miss you! I love you!" She smiled, at them, still waving.

As the ship pulled out of the dock and out into the open sea, Elsa didn't stop waving, she didn't stop waving until she could no longer see her family and her arm was so sore that she thought it would fall off. She stopped her waving and her smile faded away. The sea around her was cold and dark. She watched the water churn fast and white around the side of the ship for a moment before stepping away from the railing and walking across the deck to her cabin.

***

When Anna could no longer see her sister's ship on the horizon, she dropped her arm and leaned gently against Kristoff. Her cheeks were ruddy with the November chill and her arm ached. "I really do hope that she makes friends with Merida…" She said to her friends while still gazing at the sea. "If she doesn't then that would just be horrible."

"Why are you so set on them being friends?" Kristoff asked, quirking a brow. He wrapped an arm around Anna's waist and pulled her closer to him. "It's almost like you planned this or something."

"Oh I did plan this," Anna turned to look at Kristoff, "Well, so did Queen Elinor. We both did really!"

Kristoff blinked, "You.. You did what now?"

" _ Wellllll _ ," Anna smiled guiltily, "Queen Elinor actually invited me to come visit DunBroch in hopes that  _ I  _ would become friends with Merida because she doesn't have any friends her age, and I was all ready to accept because y'know that sounds really cool! But then I got thinking that  _ Elsa  _ doesn't really have any friends- from besides us of course. And I thought that this would be the perfect opportunity for the both of them to get friends!" She beamed, placing a hand on Kristoff's chest, quickly kissing him to stop him from interrupting her. "And so I wrote back Queen Elinor and she was all for it!" She stared back into the open water where Elsa's ship had been, smiling.

"Oh  _ wow, wow.  _ Okay-" Whistled Kristoff, "You know she's gonna kill you when she finds out, right?" 

" _ If  _ she finds out," Anna grinned. "Besides, what's for her to be mad about if she makes a new friend? You can  _ never  _ have enough friends! Am I right or am I right, Olaf?" She looked down at the snowman besides her.

"Wait.. I thought your name was Anna, Anna- Right? Is it right or are  _ you  _ Right?"


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Elsa first arrives at the Kingdom of DunBroch Merida isn't too thrilled to have to show her around the castle. But to both her and Elsa's surprise and pleasure, they have more in common then they previously thought. Stories are shared and fun is had.

Merida drug her hands down her face with a groan as she flopped down into her wooden throne that was seated next to her father's. There was a new throne in the room, a temporary one on her usually empty side that would be for the visiting Queen Elsa, who was supposed to be coming through the doors any second. "Mum," She said irritably to her mother, leaning forward in her seat to look past her father. "I don't see why she has to sit near me. I don't even know her! Since she's a queen, shouldn't she be sitting by you?" She was bored and would have much rather spend her afternoon doing pretty much  _ anything  _ except for waiting for some trade partner, no matter if she was a queen.

Queen Elinor sighed, besides her the triplets Harris, Hubert, and Hamish were acting up, giggling madly. She gave them a stern look and snapped her fingers, they quieted immediately. "Because, Merida, as I've told you, Queen Elsa is closer to your age, she's only three years older than you. Besides, I've got to keep watch of your brothers, this queen has magical properties  _ as I told you,"  _ She put an emphasis on her words when her daughter sunk back into her chair so she wouldn't have to look at her mother. "And I think we've had enough magic for a lifetime, I don't want your brothers provoking her."

Since her mother couldn't see her, Merida opened and closed her mouth as her mother spoke."Oh big deal!" She said once her mother finished talking. She pushed herself up in her chair and crossed her arms across her chest. A fiery curl of hair fell into her eyes and she blew it away. "So she can make ice sculptures? That's nothin' to be afraid of, nothin'  _ cool  _ anyways." She cracked her knuckles loudly. In truth, Merida hadn't really listened to anything her mother had told her about the visiting queen, and oh boy did she tell her a lot. She wasn't interested in socializing with her if she could help it, and especially with a  _ queen.  _ A woman who she thought would behave just like her mother, no matter how old she was.

"Merida, you know very well that that-" Queen Elinor leaned forward in her seat to talk to her daughter, but quite suddenly the doors to the throne room burst open and there stood one of their own servants in the doorway.

"Now arriving is Queen Elsa of Arendelle!" The servant said loudly and then scurried off to the side, bowing to the open door.

The King and Queen both rose and so did Merida's little brothers, but the sight of Elsa caused Merida to take a second longer than her family to stand up, and when she did, she wobbled and nearly fell back into her seat.  _ Queen Elsa was the most beautiful person she had ever seen. _

The Queen of Arendelle had long, platinum blonde hair that fell in a careful braid down her back. On her shoulders there was a short black cape with two silver fastenings across her chest. And she wore a long, fall dress that was a dark royal blue colour with bright stars needled into the chest with white thread. Her skin almost looked deathly pale, but besides that she looked healthy, if anything she appeared to be nervous as she walked into the throne room and stopped at the step that held the royal thrones.

"Thank you for inviting me," Elsa smiled, giving a small bow. She raised quickly and clasped her hands together, "It's an honour to be here, Queen Elinor," She nodded to the queen. "King Fergus," And to him. Her eyes glanced over Merida but she did not greet her.

"Thank you for accepting our invitation," Smiled Queen Elinor. "It is an honour and a privilege to have you in our castle, I hope that this can only strengthen our kingdoms' relations." She nodded to Fergus besides her who looked surprised.

"Uh- yes, what a great honour- um.." The king smiled nervously. "We hope you have a grand time here at our castle and especially during Saint Andrew's! Oh it really is a party."

Queen Elinor rolled her eyes tiredly at her husband then stepped off the top step where her and her family were standing. She walked over to Elsa and grabbed her hand, "It is nice to finally meet you," She said in a quiet voice, looking her over. "I was quite close with your mother, you know, I regret not having the time to visit her more. But you've been doing a wonderful job as queen I know." She nodded in a motherly way, smiling at Elsa gently. "I've got some affairs to tend to with next week's celebration," She said now, louder so that her family behind her could now hear them. "So I won't be able to show you around, Merida, my daughter, shall have that honour."

And Merida, who was distracted by staring at the foreign Queen, didn't even catch what her mother had said until she had turned around to look at her expectantly. "Aw, what?" She asked, biting back a whine. "Why-" Her mother gave her a deadly serious look that caused her to stand straighter. "I mean-.. I'd be happy to give you a tour, Queen Elsa." She nodded softly with a polite smile.

"Oh excellent!" Queen Elinor clapped her hands together and stepped away from Elsa, she stepped back up by her husband. "I hope you two have a fun time." She smiled and grabbed Fergus' arm, "Dinner will be held in the dining hall at six thirty, that should leave ample time for you to explore and to get to know each other."

Elsa and Merida cast each other awkward glances as the Queen ushered the rest of her family away and out of the room.

"Uh- well okay then," Merida shrugged and stepped down, walking towards Elsa. The Queen was a few inches taller than her, so she stood as straight backed as she could and puffed her chest out. "I'm Merida," She extended her hand to Elsa, something she knew her mother would deem appropriate if she was there.

Elsa's smile relaxed and she took Merida's hand and shook it, "Elsa. Great to meet you."

When Elsa shook her hand, Merida felt a shiver run down her arm. Her hand was like ice. "Uh… How was your trip?" She asked, feeling awkward and not really knowing what to do.

"I'm… Not fond of boats," Said Elsa, directing her gaze to the stone floor for a moment. "But despite that, it went well."

Merida pushed back her messy hair, "Um, you ready to start the tour then?"

"That'd be nice."

With a jerk of her head Merida started down a hallway, "C'mon then," She said, feeling nervous to lead someone around. "This way." Elsa followed besides her and Merida wished that she would walk behind her. She took the Queen up a twisting stone staircase and through a few turns to a thick wooden door.

"Best way to start the tour," Merida joked to break the silence between them. "Your bedroom," She pushed open the door and let Elsa walk in first. "I think all your stuff has been brought up," She stepped in and eyed the two, large trunks near the wall.

Elsa, however, was not interested in either of the trunks. She quickly grabbed a little black bag and searched the contents; she pulled out a golden pocket watch and being that she had no pockets, fastened it around her neck and hid it under her dress. "It's a beautiful room," Elsa said finally.

Merida finally took a moment to look around the room, she had been embarrassedly distracted by looking at Elsa. "Yeah I guess," She shrugged, leaning on the wooden doorway. "What's that?" She pointed to the watch that Elsa had just concealed under her dress.

A faint heat lit up Elsa's pale cheeks as she met Merida's eyes, her hand grasped the watch through the fabric of her dress. "A watch, it used to belong to my father." She said slowly.

"Oh-," Merida knew that that was a sensitive topic, she pushed herself off the doorway. "Well it's very pretty." She pointed over her shoulder, "Wanna continue the tour then?"

"I'd love too," Elsa met Merida at the door and they left the room.

After walking down the hall a few paces, Merida stopped at another door. "And this is my room," She shrugged, "In case you might ever need somethin' I guess." She pushed open the door and stepped in first, Elsa following behind her.

Her room was a mess, Merida hadn't bothered to clean it up. She didn't even know why she had brought the Queen in there. She vividly remembered telling her mother just the previous day that she wasn't going to bother with cleaning her room because it wasn't like the Queen was going to be bunking with her. Her bed was unmade, the thick blankets all strewn about and her sheets wrinkled. Her bow and quiver of arrows were hung on the foot of her bed and her sword was laying across the top of her dresser along with a fallen wooden bear and a few books.

"Are you good with a bow?" Elsa asked, Merida turned to her and saw that she was smirking. "My father never even let my sister and I fence, I'm jealous."

"Good?" Grinned Merida, she grabbed her bow from the end of her bed and held it. "I'm the best, been usin' a bow since I was five! I can out shoot any archer. I beat three of DunBroch's most well known Lord's sons in a game of archery for the hand of a princess." She couldn't help but brag. Her cheeks flushed with pride as she held the bow out to Elsa.

The Queen took the bow with careful hands, looking stunned. "You won the hand of a princess?" She asked bemusedly. Her fingers traced the elaborate designs in the bow but she never took her eyes off Merida.

With a nod, Merida sat down on the foot of her bed. "Yeah," She raised her hand in the air. "My hand."

Elsa's eyes widened, she moved to sit down next to Merida. "That can't be the whole story," She handed Merida back her bow and put her hands in her lap.

"You're right," Laughed Merida, she hung her bow at the side of her bed again. "There's more and it's even more fucked up then you would think."

"You're not the only royal here with a crazy story," Said Elsa with grin. She leaned in close to Merida. "You tell me yours, then I'll tell you mine."

"Fine, but I bet mine's better than yours."

"You bet all you want."

Merida pushed back her messy hair with a smile. She looked away from Elsa, her cheeks still burning. Then she started to tell the rest of her story, of how her mother wanted her to get married and how she was so against it. How she did everything in her power to change her mother's mind about her marriage- even turning her into a bear with a witch's spell. She told her of how her father nearly killed her mother before she managed to transform her back with the act of sewing up a shredded tapestry. And when she finished her story, she looked up at Elsa, who's cheeks had to be as red as Merida's felt. "Think you can beat that?" She said finally after a beat of silence had passed after her finishing her story. She pushed her hair back out of her eyes and smirked at the Queen besides her.

Elsa cracked her fingers, "Oh definitely," She crossed her legs at the knee with a grin then started to tell her own story. She told Merida of how she was born with the magical power over ice and snow, and how her power had nearly killed her younger sister when they were both little. She spoke of how after that incident how trolls made her sister forget about her powers and how she stopped interacting with her sister and anyone else if she could help it, until two years ago. Two years ago when she was crowned queen and ended up freezing her whole kingdom in a torrent of winter. She also mentioned something about her sister's crazy ex boyfriend trying to kill her, but Merida didn't really get much of that. What she did hear loud and clear however was that Elsa had nearly killed her sister with a blast of ice to the heart that froze her completely, and that she was only unthawed in an act of true love that was saving Elsa from her crazy ex.

Once Elsa finished her story, Merida just sat there for a moment, taking it in and trying to process everything. "Now that's just crazy," She said finally, laughing because she didn't know what else to do. "I think your story is actually crazier than mine."

"You think?" Elsa laughed too. "Isn't trauma due to magic fun?"

"Oh  _ totally, _ " Merida rolled her eyes. "So… You really do have magic then? Like you can control it and everything?" She asked slowly.

With a soft nod Elsa grinned, "Yes, all of Arendelle's military protections are based around my powers. Would you like to see some of it?" She paused, "Magic I mean, not winter war weapons."

All Merida could do was nod excitedly, messy red hair falling into her face.

Elsa's grin didn't falter as she put her hand into a fist and then threw it at the ceiling. A bright blue ball of magic left her hand and exploded when it hit the ceiling. Then small snowflakes began to fall from the ceiling.

With a gasp, Merida suddenly stood up and looked around her room. "It's  _ snowing,"  _ She whispered, spinning in a small circle around her room. She could feel the temperature lowering around her and it suddenly struck her why Elsa's hands were so cold. "This is incredible!" She spun around to look at Elsa, beaming.

The Queen's face was flushed and she laughed softly, "Thank you," She sat awkwardly on Merida's bed, looking up at the princess. "Though now that you've seen my snow, there's something I want to see from you."

"What is it then?" Merida asked bemusedly, her smile falling slightly.

"I want to see you use your bow."

"Wha-? Really?" Merida's smile was back and brighter than before. There were snowflakes falling into her hair and sticking there. She had never thought that any  _ queen  _ would approve of a princess learned in how to use a bow; but then even in the short time that she had spent with Elsa, Merida could already tell that she was no normal queen, even without her magic.

Elsa stood up, "Yes, unlike magic, the skill of an archer isn't just something people are born with. I'd love to see you in action." She smiled, fidgeting with her fingers. "If you'd like to show me that is, I know we haven't even finished the tour but-"

"Fuck the tour!" Merida laughed, stepping forward to grab her bow and quiver of arrows from the end of her bed. She slung the quiver over her shoulder and grabbed her bow. With her free hand she grabbed Elsa's hand and grinned. "Ya can't get lost in this castle if you tried, all the servants are too happy to point you in the right direction. The woods are much more fun anyways. That's where all my best targets are."

Snow was still falling in the room, the snowflakes were bigger now than before and Merida noticed how they didn't melt when they touched Elsa's face. She bit her lip and pulled Elsa from the room into the hall before the queen could even utter a reply.

Together they ran down the hallway giggling, Merida felt Elsa clutch her hand tightly and she didn't even care about how cold it was anymore. She knew now that the cold running through her just wasn't a normal cold like the weather, but a cold power. And she loved it.

While they descended the steps, they passed a servant holding a pile of fresh laundry. The servant had to press themselves up against the wall to avoid getting plowed down by them. Merida chortled while Elsa shouted, "Sorry!" Her voice echoing up the steps.

When they reached the bottom of the steps, Merida suddenly stopped behind the corner of the stairs. She turned around and put a finger to her lips, "Got to be quiet," She whispered, taking a big breath of air to catch her breath. "If my mum thinks that we're up to any sort of mischief she'll think I've gone and done made a deal with another witch to make you lose your refinement."

With a snort Elsa let go of of Merida's hand and looked around the corner. The hall was deserted, "Listen, my sister and I are the queens of doing silly things behind our servants backs." She looked back at Merida and gestured to the empty hall. "Lead the way, princess."

With a roll of her eyes, Merida strolled past her. "Of course,  _ my queen." _ She snorted and walked through the hall with a skip in her step, Elsa following closely besides her. In her mind she suddenly thought of how she had been so against even the thought of sitting next to Elsa just an hour ago. She didn't know which was wilder, her old stubborn thoughts or how quickly her mood for the queen changed.

Glancing over at Elsa, Merida saw that she was looking all around her at the castle, Merida looked around too; her own castle was so familiar to her that she never really thought about it and it's old beauty. She lead Elsa through the ajar front doors and they quickly snuck down the twisting footpath that lead around the castle to the stables.

"Do you ride?" Asked Merida as they neared the stables. She could smell manure and hay, but the smell of neither bothered her for how often she visited the stables. She looked over at Elsa, however, and figured that the queen was certainly not used to the smell by how her nose was crinkling.

"Ride as in horses?" Elsa asked, her hand twitched but she didn't cover her nose. "Embarrassing as it is, no." She shook her head, "Animals- well my power upsets them so they're wary of me." She admitted, "Only my sister's boyfriend's reindeer seems to like me."

Merida blinked bemusedly, "Her boyfriend's got a reindeer? As like a pet? What type of guy is he?" She laughed, walking into the stables.

"An ice salesman," Shrugged Elsa. As soon as she walked in, the horses inside their stables started to whinny nervously, their hooves pawing the ground.

"Well he sounds charming," Merida said sarcastically as she hung up her bow on a metal hook in the wall. Then she walked to the nearest stall that housed a large, black and white Shire horse that stood far taller than them both. She got on her tiptoes to reach up to gently grab the horse's snout. "Angus, shhh," She muttered to him in a motherly voice, "It's just a friend, just a friend," She said, stroking his nose. Slowly, the horse calmed down, but it didn't take it's eyes off Elsa.

Once Angus was calm, Merida opened the door to his stall and led him out while keeping a hand on his neck. "Since you can't ride by yourself, you're gonna have to ride with me." She looked over her shoulder at Elsa then pulled a footstool out of Angus' stall and put it near him. "Wanna hand me my bow?" She asked, stepping on the stool and hopping onto the horse's back without a saddle.

With a nod, Elsa fetched Merida's bow from the hook and handed it to her. "Do I just- step up?" She asked uncertainty, looking from Merida to Angus.

"Yep," Merida moved the bow to her other hand to extend a hand to Elsa. "Don't worry, Angus'll keep steady. He's only thrown me off a dozen times in all the time I've had him," She smiled but then realized that the last few times that her horse had thrown her off had been when he was around magic. She decided to keep quiet about that part.

With only a second of hesitation, Elsa picked up the hem of her dress then stepped on to the stool. She grabbed Merida's hand and pulled herself up on the horse behind her. "You ride without a saddle." She said, her hands fidgeting. "Isn't that hard?"

"Nah, s'more fun actually," Merida looked over her shoulder at Elsa then grabbed the reins with one hand. "You might want to hold on."

"Hold on to what?"

"To me!" And Merida whipped the reins, causing Angus to whinny loudly and dash out of the stables and down a beaten path that lead directly from the stable into the woods.

Elsa screamed and her hands wrapped tightly around Merida's waist, her cheek resting in her hair.

Merida tightened her legs around Angus' middle as much as she could, laughing. She cold feel the coldness from Elsa's hands seeping through the fabric of her dress and chilling her stomach. A chill raked her spine but her cheeks grew oddly warm. "You alright back there?" She shouted back to Elsa, letting go of the reins. She carefully removed an arrow from her quiver so she wouldn't accidentally hit Elsa with it and loaded it into her bow. "You're gonna miss the show!"

With a gasp, Elsa pulled her face away from Merida's hair. She leaned back to give her room to use her bow, but kept her hands tightly about her waist. "Yes!" She laughed, "This is amazing!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow that was a quick update! This is such a long chapter too! I really do hope that everyone likes this chapter! I worked very hard on it. I don't know how often updates will come to be honest, I'm on Thanksgiving break right now so that's the reason I only got chapter two out so fast.
> 
> I'd love to hear anyone's thoughts on the chapter!!!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Elsa is dazzled by Merida's skill with her bow. They talk about magic and Merida starts to teach Elsa how to use a bow properly.

As Elsa sat on the back on Merida’s horse, clutching the princess tightly, she couldn’t of been in more awe. She whooped and hollered loudly as Merida aimed for and made every shot that she set her eyes upon. The wind was cool on her face and she could hear her cape flapping in the wind. Her heart was racing and she wondered if it was just trying to keep up with her body and how fast they were moving down a madly twisting path.

"You're amazing!" Shouted Elsa as Merida made an incredible bullseye in a minuscule hollow of a tree. She tightened her grip on Merida's waist as Angus jumped over a fallen log. Elsa quite literally felt herself fly up at it and it was a wonder that she didn't fall off, but she stayed on somehow, her grip not wavering on Merida's waist.

"Not as amazing as you!" Merida turned around and shot Elsa a grin, her skin was nearly as red as her hair and her blue eyes were sparkling happily. She suddenly blinked and turned back around to face the path in front of them, "Your ice, I mean," She grabbed the reins and made Angus slow into a gentle trot. The trees around them where seemingly backing away and they were entering a large clearing. "Anyone can use a bow once they've learned, like you said." With a shrug she hooked her leg over and slipped off Angus. "But your magic?" She smiled, turning around to face Elsa. She put her bow and quiver gently to the ground and held out her hands to help the Queen down. "How many people are born with somethin' like that?"

Elsa felt her cheeks flush, "You're not wrong," She muttered, looking away from Merida. They were at the mouth of a clearing, behind them the trees grew heavy and dense, but up ahead they all seemed to stop. In the near distance she could see large stones, arranged in an odd circle. "But I'm not sure anyone could learn to use a bow," She took Merida's hands and slid off Angus. Even as she held on to Merida's hands, the drop scared her and she stumbled when she landed, only to be caught by Merida.

They shared a single moment of staring into each other's eyes with fiercely blushing cheeks before Elsa rightened herself and let go of Merida's hands.

"Who do you think couldn't learn to use a bow?" Merida asked after a second, she brushed her hair out of her eyes but the wind just blew it back to where it had been. With a roll of her eyes she walked past Elsa and patted Angus on the hindquarters, "Go have a stroll, but stay close." She said to him and the horse walked off to lay down under a large tree. "It's really not that hard," She continued to Elsa.

Elsa crossed her arms loosely about her chest, "Says you, the girl who'd make a better Robin Hood than a princess." She smirked, noting at how Merida's cheeks grew even ruddier. "I doubt even you could teach me how to use a bow properly."

With a grin, Merida took a step closer towards Elsa, leaving little room between then. "You wanna bet? If I can change my mum into a bear and back I'm sure I can give a queen a little teaching on how to use a bow." She raised her eyebrows, looking at Elsa smugly. "What do you say,  _ my Queen?" _

Elsa's smirk faltered as Merida stared up at her. Her mind was blank and while she didn't know what to say. Usually she always had something to say, some witty remark, or a suggestion, something! But now… She felt herself lost in Merida's eyes, her brain not even bothering to try and think up something for her to say. "What are those rocks up there?" She said suddenly, tearing her eyes away from Merida's and walking in the direction of the large circle of rocks she had seen earlier.

There was a second where Merida didn't follow behind Elsa, but then she quickly picked up her bow and quiver and ran to catch up with her. "Oy! Don't change the subject," She said at Elsa's side, the blush in her cheeks had died down some, now only resembling coals instead of a roaring fire. She looked in the direction they were walking and gave a slow nod, "The standing stones."

"The what?" Elsa asked, not slowing her steps but turning to look at Merida.

Looking away from the stones, Merida shook her head at Elsa. Her smile was still present, but not fully there, not in spirit. "The stones are where I first met the whisps that lead me to the witch that made the spell I used on my mum." She pointed at the center most stone, "They're also where Mor'du died and I fixed the spell."

Elsa looked where Merida was pointing and at first she couldn't see it, but as they neared the standing stones she saw that one of the great stones in the back had fallen. "You don't like this place do you?" She asked, stopping.

Merida had walked a few steps more before she had realized that Elsa had stopped. "No.. Well not really. It just feels weird." She cracked her knuckles with a sigh, looking from the stones to Elsa. Then she turned around and walked back to where Elsa was. "You ever been in a church when you're not supposed to be? When not a living soul is there and not a single candle is lit? And there's no noise save for your own breathing?"

"No.. No, but I know what you mean," Nodded Elsa. She bit down on her lip while fiddling with her fingers, "Like… It's like being alone in a room but feeling all the life and the noises of the room outside the door, but daring not to open it because you're scared of it."

Merida blinked in surprise, her spine straightening. "Yeah- yeah, exactly!" She looked over at the standing stones and let out a long breath that ghosted in the air for only a second. "I'm not scared, but I can feel that there's something off about that place, those stones… Something not good and magical but supernatural."

Looking from Merida to the standing stones, Elsa noticed how the hand the princess was using to hold her bow was ghostly white and shaking ever so slightly. In an unhesitant action she reached forward and put her hand over Merida's. "You don't have to take me any farther than this," She whispered, she didn't say that she didn't want to expose Merida to a place that made her feel uncomfortable. She wouldn't of felt right if she did, but she did want to make sure that Merida didn't go out of her comfort zone to impress her. "They're beautiful," She looked up at the standing stones. "The stones I mean. But I do feel something off about them, it's not quite magic like you said but- something similar. Maybe we should head back?"

A moment had passed after Elsa had finished talking before Merida had shown any signs of hearing her. She had been staring, transfixed at the standing stones, but with a sudden jolt she came to. She blinked once, twice, and looked down at Elsa's hand on her's. "Go back?" She asked, "We can't, not until I've shown you how to use a bow." A smile curled at her lips, "You're not getting out of it  _ that  _ easily."

Relief spread through Elsa's body and she released a breath she hadn't known she had been holding. "I thought you had forgotten about that," She laughed, taking her hand off of Merida's and tucking in a few loose hairs back into her braid. "I've already got the power of a frozen hell, do I really need to know how to shoot a bow?"

"Pff! Of course you do!" With a shake of her head, Merida transferred her bow to her opposite hand to grab Elsa's. "If you compliment someone on their work, admire it, and have the ability to do so, you should learn it." She started walking back towards the forest, smirking. "And if I remember correctly, you the one who was dead set on seeing me use my bow. 'Bout pulled me from my room and down the stairs in desperation to see me in action," She teased.

With a snort Elsa shook her head, "If I remember correctly,  _ you  _ were the one who dragged me through the castle for this little adventure."

"That might be so, but I remember you giggling like a schoolgirl who just got her first love note so I'm nearly right." Merida stopped at the mouth of the clearing. She let go of Elsa's hand and looked around, for a second Elsa didn't know what was wrong until she noticed that the horse was missing. "Did you see which way Angus went?" When Elsa shook her head Merida groaned. "Damn horse! She's just a magic queen!" She gestured angrily to Elsa before stomping into the forest. "If she's the reason you scampered off and we have to walk all the way back to the castle then I swear I'll be askin' the chef for horse hoove stew tomorrow!"

Despite the seriousness of the situation, Angus having run off and them not having a ride back to the castle, Elsa couldn't help but laugh. "If he doesn't come back does that mean I don't have to use your bow?"

Looking over her shoulder at Elsa, all the anger left Merida's face. "Nah, just means that our feet may freeze to the ground and we'll become restless hauntings." She paused, "You can't freeze to death can you?"

"I haven't really tried to find that out honestly. But I would guess no?" Elsa shrugged, following behind Merida as she walked back into the forest.

"Good for you then. Angus!" Merida shouted, cupping her hands around her mouth. Birds flew from the near barren treetops around them. She blew out a large breath, "So weird, y'know?" She looked over at Elsa, half smiling. "Last time I came here… To the standing stones, was well- with me mum and all that mess. Seems like only magical stuff ever brings me here. I hope we don't go on some soul searching journey together or something, it'd be too much work." 

"The only thing that worries you about us going on a magic journey together is it being too much work?" Elsa questioned, raising a brow. They walked slowly back down the path that they had traveled to the clearing. She noted that it was far less windy now than when they were riding, and now she could hear the songs of the birds and the sigh of the wind. "Not that we might die or more magic curses?"

"As I said,  _ too much work.  _ All that falls into work and I am not havin' it today."

Elsa laughed, covering her mouth with the palm of her hand as she did so. "Good point. I don't think I'm much in the mood for work now either," She yawned and stretched her arms behind her back. "I was on that ship for two days… I can't wait to sleep in a proper bed tonight."

"Well as soon as Angus gets back and you've got some food in you, you can go right straight to bed." Smiled Merida, "Buuut, until then I think we should get you started on some target practice."

"I'm not getting out of this no matter what, am I?"

"Nope!" Looking around, Merida stooped down to the base of a tree and picked up a large gray stone. She walked to the tree with the largest trunk without straying off the path and started scraping at its wood with the stone until she made a fine X.

Elsa stayed where she was, watching Merida. "And what's that supposed to be?"

Merida tossed the stone to the ground and rubbed her hands on her dress, "Your target of course!" With a roll of her eyes she walked over to Elsa and handed her her bow. "What else you gonna hit?"

Elsa fumbled with the bow a bit, not really certain on how she was supposed to hold it. "Given my confidence and lack of skill at using a bow I can only hope it's not you."

"It's going to be hard for you to hit me if I'm behind you," Merida raised a brow and pulled a single bow out of her quiver. She handed it to Elsa and stood behind her. "Don't be afraid of it now, it ain't a snake." She had Elsa raise the bow so that it was level with her target. "One leg back…" She patted Elsa's thigh, "Good!"

Elsa could feel her body warming at even Merida's slightest touch, it was like her skin teeming with an unnatural, fiery warmth. Since her body temperature was always abnormally cold, Merida's warm touch made her shiver. She moved and changed positions when Merida told her to and started to feel awkward, she was reminded of some odd dress fitting with a strict seamstress. "Is this good?" She asked, straightening her spine and starting to pull back on the arrow.

"Just move your fingers down a wee bit more," Merida spoke over Elsa's shoulder, she reached under her arm and tapped her fingers down an inch or two. "The arrow will take them right off if they're in its way." She pulled back her arm and looked around Elsa's other side so that she could stay close to her without being in her way. Her hand fell to the Queen's hip, "Let her fly."

Heat buzzed through Elsa's side where Merida's hand rested, she let out a deep breath and pulled the bow back until the string was taunt, then she let it go. Arrow flew well- just nowhere near the target. It flew past the trees and further into the forest and out of sight. She dropped her arm and looked over at Merida, "Told you I wouldn't be any good."

"No! That was amazing for your first try," Merida eagerly patted Elsa on the shoulder. "I'm sure with a bit more practice you'll be the shit, I'm sure of it!"

"What?" A bemused smile crossed Elsa's features. She held the bow in front of her and raised a brow, "What in the world does that mean?"

It was Merida's turn to become confused, she took a hesitant step back. "It's nothin' bad! It just means you'll be good. Great- amazin' even if you keep up practicing." She nodded, biting her lip, a blush heating up her cheeks.

A laugh escaped Elsa and she handed Merida back her bow, "I'll take your word for it then. I'm surprised I haven't heard that expression before, my sister curses like a sailor whenever she does so much as stubs her toe. Kristoff- her boyfriend, isn't any better." She smiled.

"She curses and no one cares?" Asked Merida, "Not a soul? Damn, I wish I could curse all I wanted. But my mum doesn't think it's ' _ befitting a princess'. _ " She rolled her eyes. "She makes me needlepoint kiddy versions of swears whenever she catches me."

"Oh- that is rough."

"Tell me about it!" A wide grin appeared on Merida's lips and she moved closer to Elsa like she wanted to tell her a secret, "Last month I dropped my sword on my foot and swore all up and down, all the fuckin' way to England. I  _ still  _ haven't finished my stitches for that."

Elsa couldn't suppress the laugh that bubbled out of her, she covered her mouth to try and quiet herself down some. She could feel her cheeks burning with warmth, "Sounds like she rather your vocabulary have better words than swears- but I don't mind cursing in the slightest."

With a gentle roll of her eyes, Merida cast a quick look around them. There was still no sign of Angus but neither of them were bothered to be concerned about that. "Yeah but…" She took a step closer to Elsa, almost as if she was examining her. "How come I've never heard you curse then?"

Shrugging softly, Elsa didn't take her eyes off of Merida. "I just don't curse too often. Only on special occasions I suppose."

" _ Special  _ occasions?" Merida raised a brow, "Now I've got to know what those consist of." She elbowed Elsa in her arm, "Now I've got it in my mind to hear you swear your head off."

A grin pulled at Elsa's lips, she bent down slightly so that she was at eye level with Merida. "I'd love to see you try,  _ princess,  _ but since you're determined to see me do it, I'm determined to avoid it even more now."

"You don't know who you're dealing with,  _ my queen,"  _ Merida said, her smile not faltering at Elsa's closeness. "I'll get you to swear… and I'll make sure that it's in a way you never forget."

Before Elsa could respond, there came the sound of hooves and both girls turned around to see Angus approaching them from out of the woods. There were a few burrs in his coat and a twig in his mane. Elsa was suddenly aware that if her arrow flew into the wrong spot that she might've hit him… She looked back to Merida but the fiery haired princess was already starting towards the horse.

"Where ya think you've been? Leavin' us all alone, why I shouldn't sneak you any apples tonight!" Even though Merida was facing the horse, Elsa could hear the smile in her voice. She reached up on her tip toes and plucked a twig from his mane. "Geez, boy, what in the world have you been up to?" She turned around and threw the twig to the ground. As Elsa had suspected, she was smiling. "Well you ready to go? We're probably good and properly late for dinner now."

"Was that your plan all along? To dazzle me with your archery skills so we could be late to dinner?" Elsa asked, walking over to Merida and Angus. The horse stayed still but it still gave Elsa a look of apprehension.

Putting her bow down, Merida smirked, "Could've been, but you'll never really know," She bent down on one knee and wound her fingers together. "Up you go." She tilted her head to the side to look at the queen.

Elsa wanted to think of some playful remark but nothing came to mind. She gingerly put her foot down in Merida's hands and put her palms against Angus' soft coat. Then with one quick push she found herself sitting on top of the horse. She scooted back to allow Merida room to ride up front, she held out her hand to help her up.

Merida picked her bow back up with her left hand and took ahold of Elsa's with her right. After a second she was on Angus' back and Elsa's hands had found her waist once more. Together they rode back to the castle with flushed cheeks and feeling oddly warm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took me soooo long to write! Tbh I had a different idea in mind for this chapter but it can all happen in the next one. I hope you enjoyed this despite my lack of knowledge of horses and archery.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> At Merida and Elsa's late return to dinner, they (mostly Merida) are scolded by Queen Elinor. Rude royal table manners between the young queen and princess follow.

Merida and Elsa had a harder time sneaking back into the castle than they had sneaking out, partially because they had no time to fix their windswept hair and wrinkled dresses and mostly because they were caught by Queen Elinor as they snuck into the castle.

"Queen Elsa," Queen Elinor said in an exasperated voice as she ushered them both into the dining hall. "I am so sorry for my daughter's behaviour," She arched her neck around to glare at Merida and Merida looked the other way and pretended she didn't notice. "Taking you on a tangent out in the woods," She said more to Merida than Elsa, "She's always been a bit headstrong. Please do not hold it against her."

Merida couldn't believe how embarrassing her mother was, thinking that  _ she  _ was the embarrassing one. She strolled into the dining hall in front of Elsa and her mother and looked at the long table that took up only a small portion of the giant room. It bore many of it's usual dishes, soups, haggis, and smoked salmon, berry cakes and tarts, but much of the food on it was stuff that she didn't recognize. The cooks must have prepared food native to Arendelle because a lot of the food there sure as hell wasn’t something Merida had ever seen being served anywhere in Scotland.

Merida took her seat at the center of the long table and was happy to have Elsa sit next to her, but she wasn't so happy to hear her mother  _ still  _ continuing the conversation about their adventure in the woods as she sat down. So she did her best to tune out her mother, which was really quite easy considering how long she had been doing it. Across the table though, Merida noticed how her brothers all perked up when Elsa sat down beside her and she turned to look from them to the foreign Queen.

Elsa's skin was pale again, back to its usual ghostly sheen that reminded Merida of old marble statues. Though her skin was beautiful while pale she thought it looked far better red and flushed like it had been when they were together in the woods. Since Elsa’s skin was back to normal, Merida figured that it was cool again too. She wanted to reach out and touch Elsa's to cheek to see if it was, despite knowing that it was bound to be cold and her fingers were still freezing from their journey outside.

So lost in her own thoughts of Elsa and staring at her, Merida hadn't realized that her mother was speaking to her until the third time she said her name.

"Merida!"

"Mm, what?" Merida shot up, she had been leaning her elbow on the table and staring at Elsa. "Yeah, mum?" She said quickly, turning her head down the table to look at her mother.

Queen Elinor sighed and gestured to Elsa, "The Queen was just complimenting your archery skills and you're just sitting there and staring, dear."

"Oh-" Merids felt her cheeks go hot, "Thanks," She murmured to her lap, looking away from Elsa.

Besides her Elsa stifled a giggle with her hand, "It's fine," Then she spoke behind her hand to only Merida, "You okay?"

Merida gave a soft nod and looked around, her family had already started putting food on their plates, so she did too. "So um.. What's that?" She asked Elsa, pointing to a dish that she didn't recognize that the Queen was ladling on to her plate.

“It’s lutefisk,” Elsa smiled, she caught Merida’s disgusted expression at her food and rolled her eyes. “It's just fish, it’s good!” She put the ladle back in the dish of lutefisk and picked up her fork.

“Yeah-” Merida eyed the lutefisk on the table wearily, “Yeah, I’ll take your word for it.” She grabbed a bowl and filled it to the brim with soup. “But I’m fine with my hotch-potch and pie, thanks.” She grabbed a small minced meat pie from a wide tray piled with them and plopped it on to her plate. Across from her and Elsa, Merida’s brothers were piling their plates with berry cakes and bread rolls. Stuffing them into their mouths as fast as they could grab them.

“I wasn’t going to force you to eat it,” Elsa said. She gathered a bit of the lutefisk on her fork and started to bring it to her mouth but then stopped, a smirk pulled at her lips. “I thought you’d be braver.”

Merida blinked, she had just took a large bite of pie and hated that she had chew it before speaking. To speed things up she swallowed the bite whole, and even though it scratched her throat and hurt, she didn’t regret it. “ _ Braver?”  _ She asked, leaning her elbow on the table, her fork still in hand. She grinned at Elsa, her eyes narrowing on the queen beside her. “Just who do you think you’re talkin’ to,  _ my Queen?”  _ She was just vaguely aware of how her younger brothers stopped gorging themselves to watch her and Elsa, it made her feel more confident.

Elsa took her small forkful of lutefisk and ate it slowly, eyeing Merida as she chewed. Merida remembered her mother telling her once that part of the  _ proper  _ way to eat during a meal was to chew your food a hundred times. With how many times Elsa had to have chewed her food Merida thought that the queen had to have been what the definition of proper was built around. That saying she was still a proper ballsy pain in the arse. “I  _ thought,”  _ Elsa finally spoke. She put down her fork on the edge of her plate and smiled at Merida, “That I was speaking to the princess who just earlier took me on a ride, bareback through the glen while she was better with a bow than all, even the goddess Artemis.” She paused, her smile widening as a pale pink bloomed in her cheeks. “But I must be speaking to someone else.”

Elsa had spoke in such a calm and collective manner that it made her words bite even more. Merida loved talking shit with the stable hands and the young men who worked in inside the castle, she wasn’t afraid of that type of friendly fire, instead she respected it. Any person with balls big enough to call her a cunt with a grin was a person she would gladly spend time with, taking the pleasure to insult them back. But Elsa? The Queen said that she didn’t often utter a swear, and damn, she didn’t need to. Elsa had lit a fire inside of Merida with her high class manner of bullshitting other. But it made her crazy and she loved it.

So to counter her, Merida did the only thing that she could think of. She stuffed her fork into her barely started pie, and plucked Elsa’s fork right off her plate. Then she got the biggest bite of lutefisk the fork could hold and shoved it into her own mouth. The lutefisk was salty and incredibly flaky in her mouth, not as bad as Merida suspected but it wasn’t something that she would eat again. She swallowed it and then put Elsa’s fork back on her place. "I assure you you're talkin' to the very same princess,  _ my queen." _

When she looked back at the queen, Merida saw that her smile had only grew. “I stand corrected…” Elsa muttered in an impressed whisper.

Unfortunately, Merida’s mother wasn’t as impressed as Queen Elsa.

After dinner Merida was pulled aside by her mother, which was far less embarrassing than her shouting across the table would have been, but just as much unneeded.

"I  _ cannot  _ believe you would do such a thing," Queen Elinor scolded her at the end of dinner. Merida had tried to make a quick escape with Elsa to hide in her room and lock the door while she pretended to be asleep, but her mother had caught her. "We are trying to keep our relationship with Arendelle pristine- not ruin it with petty arguments! Merida, you-"

"Mum!" Merida snapped, she threw her hands in the air. "It's  _ fine! _ " Just as her mother opened her mouth to speak again, Merida cut her off once more. "The queen and I were just messin' around is all! Don't you seen our relationship isn't spoiled none? We were just joking!" She felt her face growing hotter with every word she spoke. "You wanted me to be friends with her right?" She asked finally, breathing heavily. "And we're becoming friends, not in the right or proper way but our  _ own  _ way. Can you just drop it? Please?"

Merida had stunned her mother into silence. As an angry blush creeped up Queen Elinor's neck, Merida was sure that she was going to get every word thrown back at her times ten, but she stood her ground. Elinor opened her mouth then closed it with a sigh before opening it again, "Merida," She said and the sincerity of her tone surprised Merida. She reached out and put her hand gently on her daughter's shoulder, with her free hand she brushed a curl of fiery hair out of her face. "I know I can be… overbearing, and I don't try to be- I hope you know that, and I'm not asking for your forgiveness on it." She pursed her lips, "But I just- you can be headstrong, and I don't want you to give off the wrong impression like that." Her hand moved from Merida's shoulder to cup her cheek, "Because  _ I  _ know that you can be headstrong, but I also know that you're determined and courageous and funny and one of the bravest girls of your age… Do you know what I'm trying to say here? I just don't want to see you without friends, dear."

Merida's anger left her in a matter of seconds, replaced with a wobbly sort of thankfulness that washed through her like the tide. Yeah there was times that she was mad at her mother, if there was a person who was never mad at their mother Merida would have called them crazy. But despite that, she still loved her mother deeply. And after their… incident a few years back, both of them had gotten better at conveying their feelings to one another and telling them when something was wrong. She leaned into her mother's hand and sighed, "I know, mum… Sorry for yelling, but you just have to let me do my own things."

"Last time I did that you fed me a bewitched cake and turned me into a bear," Smiled her mother."

Merida snorted, and hugged her mother. "Yeah well, I won't do that again." She muttered, squeezing her mother tight. "But you've got to trust me, I can be likable and make friends in my own way y'know."

Queen Elinor looked down at her daughter, her smile softening, "I trust you, dear. Now, go on to bed, get some sleep."

With a smile, Merida nodded. She backed away from her mother and then turned around, "Night, mum," She said over her shoulder heading down the corridor.

"Good night, Merida."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Does this move really fast? Probably! Do I have any clue how quickly non aroaces go through attraction? No! Hey if people can fall in love this fast in movies, why can't I do it in my story?
> 
> Okay, I know this took me like... super long to update, I'm sorry! I tbh forgot about this fic, I got really busy with school work and the holidays and with my other things. I have already started the next chapter, don't worry.
> 
> Comments are very much appreciated!


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Elsa goes to bed, but is woken up by Merida.

When Queen Elinor pulled Merida away for a 'quick chat' after dinner, Elsa could only hope that she wasn't getting scolded too harshly for their antics at dinner since  _ she  _ had been the one to start it.

Without Merida, Elsa had to walk to her room alone. Her thoughts strayed Merida no matter how many times she tried to think of something else as she walked down the stone halls. Merida was- she was vibrant and loud, nothing like a princess  _ ought _ to be and Elsa found that beyond charming. Even in just half the day she had known the princess she saw that Merida was braver than anything and not scared to be that way. Elsa could only wish that she was that unabashed.

In some marvelous way considering that much of the decor looked the same to Elsa- she found her bedroom. A fire had been lit in the fireplace and the candle sconces on the walls had been lit. The room was warm and aside from the candles and the fireplace being lit, the room was just how she had left it with her trunks in the corner and her bag on the bed. With a tired sigh she walked over to the dresser across from the foot of her bed, her hands traveled to the nape of her neck were she unfastened her father's pocket watch. The gold chain and the watch itself felt warm to the touch as she pulled it out of her dress. She gently sat the watch on her dresser and looked in the mirror.

Good gods, Elsa's hair was a mess from her ride with Merida. Whisps of it had come out of her braid at every angle and stuck up every which way. If Anna was there, Elsa knew that she would have teased her to death about it. At the thought of her sister Elsa smiled, but as she reached behind her to undo her braid, her smile fell. She wondered how her sister was doing, if she was all right, and if she missed her. Elsa felt a pang of guilt for not having thought of her sister sooner as her fingers raked through her hair, having undone the braid by sheer muscle memory. In the mirror Elsa looked at herself and sighed.

She turned away from the mirror and walked to her trunks in the corner. One of them, she couldn't remember which, had all of her nightwear in it. She took a guess and opened the dark leather and wood one on the left only to find her formal dresses. Elsa shut the trunk and opened the one on the right, inside were her formal clothes and nightwear. She reached inside and plucked a random nightgown from the pile and pulled it out.

It was a simple thing, a summer night gown really, but Elsa loved it. It was creamy white and made of the softest fabric that was light and comfy. It didn't have a design other than how it shined in the light like a star in the sky. Elsa loved it because of how comfortable and simple it was. All day she wore such elaborate things, even her simple clothes were never simple. But her night clothes could simply be the plainest things known to man and no one would care, because no one would see her in her night things but herself and her sister.

Elsa closed the trunk and then dropped her nightgown on top of it. She then unfastened her cape and took off it and her dress. She laid both of them carefully on her second trunk before pulling on her nightgown. Normally before going to bed Elsa would brush her hair and clean her face, but after her long day she figured that skipping her routine just one time wouldn't hurt.

With a yawn, Elsa slipped out of her shoes and started towards her bed. With a flick of her hand a cold breath of wind danced around the room and snuffed out the candles on the walls. The light in the room dimmed considerably but the fire still crackled and burned brightly in the fireplace. Elsa grabbed her bag off the bed and set it on the nightstand stand beside it, then she pulled back the covers. She got into bed and snuggled between the thick, winter blankets and pulled them over her.

Though the cold didn't bother her, even just a bit too much heat had her melting. Despite that, Elsa was glad to have the winter comforter on her bed. It was heavy and made her feel present in a way that she couldn't quite place. She turned on her side and closed her eyes. "Good night, Anna," She whispered into the room, hoping that in the castle back home her sister could feel her words.

With the thought of Anna in her mind slowly changing over to the day's memory of her antics with Princess Merida, Elsa found herself smiling into her pillow as she fell asleep. Though sleep for her came quick, Elsa's dreams came slow, like dark clouds nearing for a heavy storm.

Her dreams formed like a puzzle would be put together, one piece at a time. First, Elsa was alone in a flowering field full of violets in the prime of their bloom. The air was warm but in a second of wind, it all blew cold. So cold that even Elsa felt it and was made uncomfortable by it. The cold sent a chill racing down her spine and raised goosebumps on her arms and legs. Instead of killing the violets as such a cold normally would, however, Elsa watched in awe as it swarmed around them and crystalized them, making them sparkle and shine like blown glass.

Elsa bent down to pick up one of the violets. As she plucked it, it's stem broke with the sound of shattering glass. Though the flower had to have been very cold, in her hand, Elsa could neither feel any warmth or coldness from it. It was like the violet had no temperature at all. In the icy coating around the flower, she saw the reflected flicker of orange, a splash of fire.

Looking up, Elsa saw Merida walking toward her. Fire danced around her ankles as she walked, scorching the ground black but only affecting the violets by melting away their covering of ice. She seemed unaffected by the fire, either not noticing it or simply immune to it. For some reason, the fire neither scared nor surprised Elsa as Merida walked toward her. The dastardly chill in the air had dissipated into nothing, and around her the air only felt heavy with comfort to Elsa, like she could fall asleep standing up there.

When Merida was near enough to her that Elsa could touch her, she held out the frozen violet to her. Without batting an eye, Merida took it in her hands and surprisingly, the ice around it did not melt. Merida brought the flower to her face, and with a gentle smile, she smelled it. Her smile grew and slowly, she held the flower out to Elsa to do the same.

Smiling, Elsa leaned forward and smelled the violet. It smelled sweet and fresh, like honey and the air after a spring rain. She nodded at Merida and watched as the princess pulled the flower away from her and tucked it behind her own ear. The flowers purple petals stood out bright against her loud hair and made Merida as a whole, look softer and more feminine.

Then Merida opened her mouth to speak and every part of Elsa's being seemed to vibrate like a glass of water in a room with an orchestra. Somehow, she knew what Merida was going to say was important. But before she could even hear one word of what the princess was going to say, she was awoken from her dream with a rough shake and pulled back into reality.

Elsa jumped up in her bed, gasping. "Who's there?" She asked, raising her voice in alarm. Not much time had passed since she had fallen asleep, she absentmindedly noted from the light of the fire, which had only dimmed slightly in her time asleep. In a second, her eyes found Merida, standing by her bedside with her arms out as to shake her again. "Merida?" She asked. "Why are you here?" She asked sharply, without meaning too, her disappointment from being woken up right before the climax of her dream finally hitting her.

Merida winced, dropping her hands. "We've got a bit of a situation." She said slowly. "Remember that snow you showed me in my room? Well- you forgot to stop it and now my room looks like Father Christmas just came early with the great white gift of a blizzard."

With a gasp, Elsa jumped out of bed. Now that Merida spoke of her snow, she began to notice the sparkling snowflakes tangled in her hair. "I can't believe I did that."

"S'fine," Merida waved her hand like that type of thing happened to her everyday. "But do you think you could stop it? Even though you're the one with the ice powers, my mum would blame  _ me  _ for this." She smiled tiredly.

"Oh, of course!" Without a second thought, Elsa took Merida's hand and quickly pulled her from her room and into the hall. She looked toward Merida's room and saw that the door was open a crack. While still holding Merida's hand, she stepped toward the door and pushed it open. What she saw inside made Elsa gasp.

The room looked like it could be an illustration for a children's book of fairytales. From the ceiling, small snowflakes fell and littered the ground in a powdery blanket of snow. The windows were frosted over with spiralling patterns of ice and every surface save but for the walls was gleaming like it was bejeweled in miniature gemstones. It was breathtakingly beautiful and horribly embarrassing.

Elsa let go of Merida's hand for her own to flutter to her chest. She turned around to face the princess, "I am so sorry about this, this hardly even happens to me anymore." She gave her a watery smile and then turned to face the room once more. "I'll have it gone in a jiffy-" And then with a wave of her hands, Elsa made all of her magical mess disappear into thin air. The only thing that stayed of it was a heavy chill that hung in the air.

Merida stepped forward and looked about her room bemusedly, "You're pretty good at cleanin' up, huh?" She visibly shivered and ran her hands over her arms. "But damn, it's freezin' in here!" She exhaled through her teeth and her breath left her in a ghostly cloud of vapor. "The servant who was supposed to light my fire probably beat it to the hills at the sight of the snow… but damn I wish they would've at least told me about this!" Merida waved her arms around the room and then shivered again.

Elsa's heart sank at seeing Merida so cold. She felt like she did when she learned that she had froze her whole kingdom by mistake. In her mind, she saw a flash of the image from her dream of fire nipping around Merida's feet with every step she took. "Why don't you sleep in my room?" Elsa asked before she even knew what she was saying. "It is my fault that I made your room freeze," She shrugged.

A heat rose in Merida's cheeks and she stopped rubbing her arms, "Me? Sleep with a queen?" Her lips curved into a smile and her eyes swept over her room once more. "Sounds a bit scandalous but hey, it's better than freezin' to death under frozen sheets, ain't it?"

Elsa too, blushed, "Or I could sleep in here if you'd prefer-" She offered. "You are my host, I couldn't invite you to sleep in my bed."

Merida bemusedly shook her head, "Hey, even you would freeze in a room this cold, my Queen." She smirked and moved over to her dresser. "Why are you so concerned with formalities now?" She asked, opening one of the dresser drawers and after a bit of searching, pulling out a thick, woolen nightgown. "After we did today, it would be easier to say that we're friends. You don't act formal with your friends, wouldn't you say?" She put her nightgown over her arm with an eyebrow raised.

Elsa opened her mouth but found that she had no words to counter Merida with, "I suppose you're right." She said finally. She put her hand to the door frame and bit her lip. "Though I must admit," She started slowly, her own smirk forming on her lips. "I don't believe I've ever slept with any of my friends before, consider yourself special, Princess." It was only half true, Elsa hadn't any friends to sleep with beside her sister, but she still felt like saying something to tease Merida back. "I'll see you once you're done changing." She said, before turning around and returning to her own room.

As Elsa made her way back to her room, her heart began to beat quickly and it left her with a surge of energy that made her feel excited despite it being the time for sleeping. Why she enjoyed annoying Merida so much, Elsa didn't know. But she did know that Merida didn't mind it when she annoyed her. As she stepped into her room which then felt far too warm for her, she had the thought that Merida loved it when she annoyed her. She smiled, because she knew that  _ she  _ loved it when Merida annoyed her.

Crawling into bed, Elsa sat with her back against the headboard, wanting for Merida. She wondered about what a quick friendship they had made, and how it was built on the mutual enjoyment of messing with each other. It was almost too funny to think about. Had Anna told Elsa that not even a day after meeting the Princess Merida that they would become friends who enjoyed poking fun at each other like they had known each other for years, well Elsa would have asked her what she had been drinking and just why she didn't share it with her. The very idea made Elsa giggle to herself.

Unfortunately, it was a bad time to giggle because Merida just stepped into the room. "What's so funny now?" She asked, smiling. She had changed into her nightgown, and even in the bad lighting, Elsa could see that it was a dark of red that was only a few shades off from the colour of the princess' hair.

"Ah, nothing." Elsa said quickly. She pushed her hair back even though it wasn't in her face. "You look nice in red. Like you're on fire, but nice."

With a snort, Merida shut the door behind her and then stepped over to the bed. "Thanks, and you- you look nice with your hair down." She said, hesitating slightly before she got into bed besides the queen.

Elsa touched her hair again without thinking about it, "Thank you," She smiled softly and for a moment too long they looked at each other without speaking. "Well, it's getting late…" She looked away from Merida.

"Oh yeah, yeah." Merida mumbled, she too looked away before laying down and pulling the blankets high up her chest.

Elsa waited for Merida to start getting ready for sleep before she did too. She laid down, turning her body away from the princess. She held the blankets in her hands, feeling so awkward but not knowing why. There was nothing awkward about sleeping with another person, she didn't even have to talk. All she had to do was sleep. So why did she feel so uncomfortable?

"Night, Elsa." Merida said from beside her.

"Good night, Merida." Replied Elsa.

It was much harder for Elsa to fall asleep that second time with Merida in the bed with her than it had been earlier.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this took so long to update! I had like 800 words of this chapter done since January but just kinda forgot about it- I've been kinda busy and really haven't written much this year so far. But I am really happy with how this chapter turned out! And I have in mind what to do for the second chapter!
> 
> I hope I didn't change up their characters too much since I haven't written in a while- oop


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After Merida wakes up in Elsa's room, she takes a bath and comes up with a realization made from uncomfortable memories.

Even before Merida woke up, she knew exactly where she was. In the state of semi-consciousness that was built of half ended dreams and nearly being awake, she remembered that she was in Elsa's bed, that she was sleeping with a queen. Not long after her mind registered that fact, she woke up. 

The first thing Merida noticed upon waking up was that there was hair in her face. The second thing she noticed was that it wasn't her hair, but Elsa's. As quietly as she could, Merida blew Elsa's hair off of her face and looked down. The sleeping queen had her head resting on her chest and her arm draped over her. If Merida hadn't of had to piss like a horse she would've never wanted to leave the bed. But to be truthful, even if her bladder would have exploded, she still probably wouldn't have wanted to leave the bed.

Even though she had to pee, Merida was worried if she moved that she would wake Elsa. And for the moment, she preferred looking at her asleep than awake. Because there was no embarrassment at looking at Elsa while she was asleep. If the queen was awake, Merida would have to worry about staring too long and looking weird. But by gods, Queen Elsa was just as beautiful asleep as she was awake.

Merida was struck with the sudden urge to run her fingers through Elsa's hair, and for a moment she almost gave into her urges; but then she realized that running her fingers through her hair while asleep would be far weirder than looking at her too long while Elsa was awake. Under her, Merida shifted uneasily. She couldn't tell what time it was but the morning sun shone through the window and lit up the room. The sun hit Elsa's already bright, platinum blonde hair and made it shine like it was made from the sun's spare rays. Merida very much preferred seeing Elsa's hair down like it was then, it didn't shine like that when it wasn't down.

Hot embarrassment flooded Merida's cheeks and she covered her face with one of her hands. What was wrong with her? Such strange thoughts her mind made up when she was around Elsa. But though her thoughts were strange, they weren't uncomfortable nor completely unfamiliar to her. Not wanting to feel embarrassed by her thoughts, anymore, however, Merida risked waking Elsa by slipping quietly out of bed. To her relief, she didn't wake her and was spared the extra embarrassment of having to exchange morning pleasantries.

As Merida pulled open the bedroom door to leave, she threw one more look over her shoulder at the sleeping queen. She told herself that she did that because she wanted to be certain that she did not wake her, but she knew that wasn't the real reason. Once outside Elsa's door, Merida sighed and leaned against it. Her mind was starting to churn with some very bitter memories and she did not wish to think about them. But it always seemed when you didn't want to think of something how it had a bad habit of popping up in every thought you did have.

With a shake of her head, Merida pushed herself off of Elsa's door and walked barefoot down the hall to the loo. She yawned into the crook of her elbow and stretched as she walked. The cold stone floors sent a racing chill up her spine that made the hair on her arms and legs stand up and her nipples grow uncomfortably hard against the fabric of her nightgown. She crossed her arms over her chest and continued on her way.

When Merida ran into a servant on her way to the toilet, she asked them to get a bath ready in her room. She then used the loo and went back to her own room, hurrying past Elsa's room on the way to her own.

Upon entering her room, Merida was glad to see that some servants had already brought the tub up and filled it with steaming water. A towel for her to dry off lay on her bed. With a small smile, she shut her door and latched it so that no one could enter. She had had too many bad experiences of her mother waltzing in while she was in the bath, and Merida  _ certainly  _ didn't want Elsa to walk in on her either. With a sigh, she stripped off her nightgown and threw it carelessly to the floor. Then she stepped over to the tub and put a tentative toe inside the water, it was hot but not boiling.

Once she was certain that the water was not hot enough to cook her alive, Merida submerged the rest of her foot, and then her leg into the tub. Then she did the same with her other leg and sat down in the comfortably hot water which rose to her chest. The tub was long and made out of a dark brown metal that matched the temperature of whatever water was put in it. It was big enough for Merida to lay down and submerge her whole body if she wanted to.

On the side of the tub there was a pale wash rag. Merida grabbed, soaked it in the water and then used it to scrub her face. With her face washed, she leaned back and wetted her hair, letting it swarm around her head like some rare water plant. Merida liked to bathe, it made her feel fresh. It was one of the only more princess-like activities that her mother didn't have to bully her into doing.

Too bad the bath also had a bad habit of bringing forth thoughts that Merida would rather forget.  _ People _ she would rather forget. Merida submerged her head under water and began counting how long she could hold her breath to distract herself from painful thoughts. It didn't work. It never worked.

She thought of Aggie.

Aggie was a niece of one of their older servants and she had come to work in the castle just over a year ago. She had long since left, but that didn't stop Merida from thinking of her. From the moment she had laid her eyes on the young girl, only a few months younger than herself, Merida had started to feel strange around her. But feeling strange around her didn't stop her from making excuse after excuse to be around her. Even if she ended up doing chores with her, Merida didn't care, she just loved to be with Aggie.

Merida enjoyed being around Aggie so much that she had made her her personal handmaid, the position gave them much more time to talk and Merida much less work to do. Being with Aggie made her the happiest person in the world, like the sun was always shining and every arrow hit it's mark. And Aggie enjoyed their friendship too, Merida knew that. They'd often share secrets and act like they had known each other for years instead of months.

It was with Aggie that Merida even had her first kiss.

They had been gossiping about something or other, Merida couldn't remember, but it was probably boys. Aggie talked much of boys. Since Merida wasn't much for gossip, especially gossip about boys, she wasn't a very good listener. But she heard loud and clear when Aggie openly wondered "what a girl must kiss like when compared to a boy". She jumped up so fast that it must have looked like she was burned with a red hot poker. Merida had an even quicker response when she, too, despite never having kissed a boy, wondered how a girls' lips differed from a mans'.

There was a lot of awkward shuffling and giggles between that and what happened next, but that does not stop what happened. They kissed. And to Merida, that kiss was the most beautiful thing in the world, even though for how short it was and for how much romance it lacked. It was the most beautiful thing in the world to Merida for two simple reasons, because she thought that Aggie was the most beautiful person in the world, and because of how it opened her eyes that it was only girls she wanted to be kissing from that point on. Aggie though.. plainly expressed that her kisses with boys had been better, and that statement tied a weight to Merida's heart and drug it into the pit of her stomach.

A few weeks after the kiss, Aggie resigned. Merida could only guess it was because of how awkward she became around her afterwards but when she asked Aggie's aunt, she said it was because she fell in love with a boy who promised to take her to America. Hearing that side of the story just made Merida sadder than she had originally been when Aggie left.

Under the water, Merida's lungs began to ache from holding her breath so long. She released a torrent of air bubbles through her nose to distract herself from the lack of air. They loudly tore up the water around her and their noise echoed in the water into her ears.

When Aggie had left, she had left Merida wondering why the kiss did not make her feel anything. And why she preferred a boys' kiss while Merida did not.

Merida still wondered those things now, but with her experience with Aggie now but a memory, she could see that it had many similarities with her ongoing experience with Elsa. How she was feeling around the foreign queen, her urges to impress her and run her fingers through her hair… They were the same things that Merida had wanted to do with Aggie.

With her head pounding from the need of fresh air, Merida resurfaced with a loud gasp. She pulled herself up from under the water by the edges of the tub and sat up. Water streamed into her eyes and her ears pounded angrily with the sound of her heartbeat. She closed her eyes and wiped the water off of her face with her hand, breathing as if she had just ran the whole of the castle grounds.

Love was a very weird thing for Merida, very weird indeed.

At first she could never understand it. Her mother’s constant persistence that she would soon one day want a husband and that she would find herself having more fun while waiting for him to return from a day of hunting instead of joining him on his hunt. She had begun to think that she must have been a late bloomer when it came to the attraction of men or that all women were simply making it up. But after Aggie… Merida truly knew what was happening. She had had no infatuation with the handsome stable bucks or well muscled sons of blacksmiths because she was too busy being hopelessly drawn to the seamstresses with nimble but callused fingers and the daughters of the bakers with flour stained aprons and full cheeks. Merida had never found herself loving a man because she loved women.

It was a simple idea in her mind, but in practice, Merida knew it would be beyond odd. Because, what other woman would feel like her? Merida had never met another girl who was actually attracted to women in full instead of in just an experimental curiosity. Not to mention if there were other women who felt like Merida did, the thing was just unheard of. She grabbed the wash rag from the depths of the tub and started to forcibly rub it on her skin until it was bright pink.

_ An abomination. _

Even though their castle had a church within it, they hardly used it. Not for worship anyways. They only used it when it came to things like weddings, funerals, and for christening. They didn’t even have a priest within the castle walls, they had to send for one from one of the nearby towns when they needed one. Neither Merida’s parents were very learned in the scripture of Jesus and his Holy Father, so they didn’t try to ever instill any sort of Christain values in her. But even though she and her family did not practice Christianity, that did not stop their servants and even the vast majority of the country from doing so.

And since Merida’s country and her servants practiced the religion all around her, despite her better wishes, it helped to ensure that at least a couple of the Christain ideologies would be instilled in her. To say it in an easier way, Merida was not a Christain and she did not see herself as one. But when something is normal and a common thought to a great majority of people around you, it starts to become a normal and a common thought to you as well. With that being said, Merida worried about what people would think about her and what she did, and most people formed their thoughts around their religion (if they had one). She also had trouble from keeping other peoples’ sins from becoming her own.

After Merida washed herself until the water was no longer pleasingly hot but an unsatisfying cool and her skin was sore and red, she stood up in the tub. Water ran down her body in rivulets and made her skin look shiny and slick. Her hair was wet and went down very low on her back, it was longer wet then it was dry and she didn’t like how the length of her hair differed depending how wet it was. Merida reached for the towel on her bed, fat drops of water falling from her arm and on to the floor as she did so.

As she dried off, Merida tried to empty her head of all thoughts concerning women and religion. Despite the fun she had had with Queen Elsa yesterday, she almost did not want to see her. She stepped out of the tub and dried her legs as small puddles pooled around her feet. Things had been so much easier for her before Elsa came.

_ Ay, but things were also much easier before Aggie came too.  _ Said a small voice in the back of her head that Merida would much rather have wanted to ignore.

Once she was dry, Merida threw her towel upon the floor and moved over to her dresser to pick out something to wear. After a quick search of drawers she pulled out a golden coloured dress with a low neck and a creamy coloured trim. Her mother had sent for many talented seamstresses to create for her a more ‘feminine’ wardrobe and the gold dress was one of the only fruits of their labour that Merida actually enjoyed.

Slipping on the dress, Merida looked at herself in the mirror and smoothed out a few wrinkles at the dress' front. Then she grabbed her hairbrush and began to brush her hair before it could dry into some horribly tangled mess. Since her hair was still wet, the brush went through fairly easy, only snagging here and there on the occasional knot. Merida made a quick job of brushing her hair. She didn't like to brush it a hundred times as her mother recommended, it would take too much time and she really didn't want to be left alone in her room the entire morning.

Putting her brush down, Merida grabbed a hair tie and used it to tie her hair back into a low ponytail. A few small stray curls, which had dried before the rest of her hair, frizzed at her forehead. Despite knowing it wouldn't work, Merida tried to smooth down her frizzy curls but they only poofed out more. With a sigh, Merida gave up on her hair since there wasn't any more she could do for it and it didn't bother her much.

Merida looked over her shoulder at the window in her bedroom, the ice that had covered it the previous night was gone and she could see the sun shining brightly through the glass. "Well there's no point in hauling myself up in here like some crazy witch," She said to herself, cracking her knuckles. 

Without giving her room another glance, Merida opened her door and left. She made sure to walk both quickly and quietly past Elsa's door and headed toward the dining hall were she was hoping to sit down to breakfast.

When Merida arrived in the dining hall, she was thankful to see it empty except for her father. Not to be hateful toward her mother, but she just got along better with him and he  _ never  _ used the fact that she was a princess to discourage her from anything. She sat down in one of the side chairs closest toward his head seat and pulled a plate of sausages near her.

"Mornin', dad." Smiled Merida. She skewed one of the sausages on a nearby fork and took a large bite from it.

"Ah, there's my girl!" Her father smiled at her over his cup of coffee. "I thought you'd gone and ditched me for the company of your more womanly friend."

While she chewed, Merida rolled her eyes. "Aw, you know it ain't that. Mum set us up!" From the table she grabbed a metal teapot near a plate of scones and poured it into an empty mug near her. "She's nice too.. It feels like I'm the only girl in this place most of the time." Whenever she talked to her father, Merida loved how they both reverted to talk about simpler things. Neither of them beat around the bush in their conversations with one another and it made it easier to talk, especially because Merida never felt like her father judged her.

"And your mother?" King Fergus asked grinning.

Merida smiled weakly, "Mum's different, y'know? She's a queen! She don't act like a normal girl would."

Merida's father banged his coffee cup down on the table with laughter. Some of it sloshed out of the sides but he didn't seem to notice. He wiped his eye with his hand, his grin having turned into a smile. "And what about that Elsa? She's a queen too. If you're sayin' all queens aren't real girls then what's she?"

Merida felt her face flush. To keep from speaking she chugged some of the tea that she had just poured, despite the fact that it scalded her throat and brought tears to her eyes. "She's… different." Merida said hoarsely, putting her half empty cup down. "She's not like mum at all, but then she's not like me at all."

The king bit into a whole fried egg while his daughter talked, listening to her earnestly. "But you like her, yeah?" He asked finally.

Merida's face scrunched up in confusion, "Course I do!" She put her fist on the table, rattling her cup.

"Well I'm not the best with people," Her father supplied with a shrug of his large shoulders. "That was always Elinor's talent. But if you like her, well what the hell does it matter what she is? Be she a toad, a scribe, some woodland fairy, or  _ even, _ a queen. You like her and that's it." He nodded firmly. "Yeah, she acts different than your mum, but don't everyone act a bit different? Take your brothers for an example." Even though her brothers weren't at the table, Merida's father gestured to where they usually sat with an empty fork. "Maybe if you didn't know 'em they'd be all the same, but you know well as me and them that they're different to the sky and back."

Merida blinked and then an embarrassed smile spread across her face. Sometimes her father told her exactly what she needed to hear without her even asking for it. He was more than wise if you caught him at the right moment and she loved him for it. "Ay, thanks, dad. You're right." She picked up her fork with her unfinished sausage on it and raised it to her father.

"I am?" King Fergus asked, leaning across the table for a scone. "What I do?" In his confusion he handed Merida two and took three for himself.

"You told me something that made me feel a bit better is all." Merida took the scones from her dad, her smile growing. She took a bite of one and was happy to taste that it was her favourite, raspberry.

"Ah well… Good." Her father said, still somewhat uncertain. But he flashed Merida a friendly smile and toasted her with his handful of scones.

Merida finished breakfast with her father, feeling much better than she had felt all morning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oop don't expect updates to be as frequent as this- I do not know what this chapter is at all? Plot? Who are they? But I hope you guys like this chapter! I have a vague idea of what to do for the next one, I just don't know when I'll get around to writing it.
> 
> Comments are very much appreciated!!!

**Author's Note:**

> So I've had this idea floating around in my head since I saw Wreck it Ralph 2 for the second time in August! I, however, waited until I saw Frozen 2 to write it! That being said, this fic takes place between Frozen 1 & 2! Also in this fic, Elsa is 22, and both Anna & Merida are 19!
> 
> Comments would be very much appreciated!!!


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